The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that indicated an increased cardiovascular risk associated with Avandia (rosiglitazone), a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes.
The study indicated an increase of about 40% in the risk of myocardial infarction among patients receiving Avandia as compared with those receiving either an alternative oral diabetes therapy, such as metformin, or placebo.
This study raises tremendous concern because Avandia is widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Health care professionals, pharmaceutical companies, and patients should be aware of these risks and potential adverse effects. Additionally, the Journal reports that a study performed by the manufacturer of rosiglitazone confirmed the results. Many of the heart attack victims are pursuing product liability claims for injuries arising from the use of this drug. There are also other claims of alleged injury aside from heart attacks that some product liability lawsuits are asserting related to this drug. There are various liability theories asserted in the lawsuits including that the drug is an unreasonably dangerous product and that the drug did not meet the consumers expectation of safety and that the drug warnings were insufficient.
To read the full Journal article and related articles on the topic, check out the New England Journal of Medicine website at http://search.nejm.org.
For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.
